A tribe says it has reached an agreement to buy land it considers sacred in South Dakota’s picturesque Black Hills, ending weeks of worry about possible development on the land.

Tribe President Cyril Scott says in a statement obtained by the Associated Press that the Rosebud Sioux’s bid on nearly 2,000 acres (800 hectares) of pristine prairie grass was accepted by the land’s owners. The tribe has deposited $900,000 as an earnest deposit. Scott says the remaining $8.1 million of the agreed-upon $9 million purchase price has to be paid in November.

Plans to auction off the land prompted outcry from the Great Sioux Nation because the land plays a key role in the creation story of the tribes.